Leatherman Punchdown Tool

Something that I always have at my side, is my Leatherman Wave. It has all kinds of tools that can help out at a moments notice except for one, a punchdown tool! As a system admin, sometimes I have the need to terminate a keystone jack or punchdown block and I don't have room in my pocket to carry a real punchdown tool with me everywhere I go. Now with this quick mod, I can! Everyone that has a Wave knows about the "large screwdriver" aka "pry-bar." I never understood it's true meaning since you already have four different screwdrivers to choose from. Now you can ditch that and have a nice useful punchdown tool.

Step 1 Thin down the tip!

The first thing you will need to do is use a bench grinder or dremel to thin the metal down to about half the current thickness, 3/8" from the tip in order to make it fit the block. Be careful not to make the tip sharp, you don't want to cut the wire you're trying to punch down.

Comments

[struckbyanarrow]

i feel very lucky today because it found a perfect condition leatherman wave on a bench at the beach

[nerfer192]

lol, wave, at the beach

[struckbyanarrow]

I get it!

[masterochicken]

(removed by author or community request)

[RFilyaw]

Is there a reason you're robbing people's vehicles? If you really stole something out of someone's car, I think the owners of this website should call the police on you. They don't need your address, just the IP you're on when posting messages.

[masterochicken]

With what warrant? "He posted on the internet so it must be true" won't hold up in court too well buddy.

[Full Frontal Graphic]

Anyone driving a Hummer has a strong need to learn not to become too attached to their things. But you don't have to be the one to teach them this lesson. Stealing things isn't good for you. Trust me.

[masterochicken]

Well here's how it goes. My dad owns a used car lot. I go through his cars and take stuff sometimes. If I don't his employee will. I got my bench press the same way.

[Full Frontal Graphic]

You can do anything you want. Just make sure its what you want. You'd feel better about your bench press if you could brag that you built it, even better if you designed, and more so if you did an instructable on it.

[masterochicken]

(removed by author or community request)

[kibbler]

That's like a joke, but not! (sarcasm)

[cesarscavone]

Very good Instructable! I'm IT technician and it is a good punchdown. As here in Brazil we haven't Leathermans for sale (nor SOG or Gerber) I've buyed a cheap US$ 10 multitool and try this mod and it fits very well! The standard screwdriver of my multitool is very thin, so I just need to cut the "tooth" on the middle of the screwdriver and, as you tell, "Hooray"! I have my punchdown on my multitool! My cheap multitool is very nice to IT jobs, because it have an implement that fits driver bits and I carry a set together. To carry all, I use a good pistol reloader case, as the multitool haven't original case (and if does, I presume that will not be so good). I have uploaded a pic of my mod to all of you! Hope someday these Leathermans can be found here! Sorry about english mistakes! Cesar

[browserbomb]

Nice where can i get one

[doo da do]

leatherman.com I have the original and have carried it for ten years finally had to get another sheath I call it (saved me a 1000 steps) and they sent a catalog with every thing they sell

[jwilson27]

Very nice! I am always in need of a punchdown tool when I don't have one. Of course after I make this mod, I will lose my leatherman... haha! Great instructable!

[computerwiz_222]

This is an awesome idea! I personally use an "econo" punch down tool. They are plastic, really suck and weigh about as much as a paperclip. Does anyone know what I mean? You know the really cheap yellow ones that are like 5 bucks and the metal punch down tooth actually falls out once in a while.

[hay_jumper]

Years ago for xmas my dad gave me a Schrade Tough tool. It pwns leathermans, so far as I know. Just sayin...

[moofie]

Better how? The Wave has a better set of tools, more comfortable handles, and you can open and close the two main blades one-handed. Schrade might have been a good competitor to Leatherman years ago, but that was a lot of years.

[ask4itall]

Kewl...I"m the same way...my Leatherman is always on my belt and having a 110 punch down tool there handy would be great...next...we need a 66 punch down. LOL Also...Leatherman is making a telecom/datacom Leatherman now...but it's pretty expensive. Best wishes... J. David Fig www.palmettonetworks.com

[Gjdj3]

Super cool, not to mention useful, instructable. +1!

[shop dweller]

As a knife collector I own several brands, and I can honestly say that Leatherman tools are some of the most elegant multi's in my collection. Beautiful engineering. The Paladin PT-540 is also quite nice, but it's almost totally specialized for electronic work. It has punchdown tips for block work as well as several others we all recognize. The only thing I wasn't impressed with was the wire stripper. It has a blasted surface and it's a little hard to use (but it works). The worst drawback is that it's pricey - I almost didn't buy it (around $140.00).

[ERNesbitt]

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I'm going to do that Monday night after I bring my punch down tool home from work. I've been using the small screwdriver to try to gently wedge the wire in between the teeth this whole time. That's the trouble with having five network closets... sometimes I leave my punch down tool in one when I go to the other. But I never forget my Leatherman. Absolutely amazing.

[binnie]

is this how you crimp network cables? or you need the special plier thingys

[bluebomb]

To crimp a network cable, you will still need a crimp tool. This is simply a punch-down tool for key-stone jacks and punch-down blocks.